Now that I have the DH100ix, the empeg has to go... :-(

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=170020988327

How does the DH100ix compare? It looks quite tacky.

Anyway, you also need to give the serial number of the player in your eBay advert, ideally a photo of the Empeg displaying it.

DH100ix is very simple by comparison. No "frills", unlike the empeg. But then again it is very simple to use, and navigation is much simpler than on the empeg, mainly due to a lack of options.

The DH100ix looks much more svelte than the empeg, and in IMO looks better, apart from the display.

"It looks better except for the part that you see."

I love my empeg but its far from a thing of beauty in its standard plastic form. With a black aluminium fascia though, its hard to beat it.

Oh, you mean the actual lit-up part. I still disagree -- I'm not a big fan of the thousand-buttons/hundred-logos look -- but that's completely subjective.

Actually, there are a lot less logos on the front of the Dension than there were on my old Kenwood head unit.

The Dension has just about the right amount of buttons IMO. I always thought the empeg had too few...

On the contrary when not listening to music (50% of the time) I listen to talk radio. There are 3 main stations I listen to, and they're 1-3 on the Dension. When visiting my mother or my wife's parents I have the local radio stations there on 4 and 5.

The buttons on the left are primarily volume and navigation. They're pretty much essential. Other buttons are to do with setup/sound/display options.

All in, I have found the DH100ix to be very simple and quick to use. More buttons mean less button presses.

The Dension site says the DH100ix has been discontinued, but then again so is the empeg.

In 5 years when the DH100ix stops working (my 12 year old Pioneer HU is still going stong), there'll be something else on the market, in this the age of throw-away consumer goods.

What it all comes down to for me is that the empeg requires more than just a single DIN slot. If it could do everything I require in a simple single DIN headunit, I wouldn't dream of getting rid of it. Note how there are galleries of people's empeg installs, and how they've mounted/hidden amps, tuners etc. Meanwhile DH100ix installs go un-noticed... That speaks volumes by itself.

The only problem with the DH100ix has been the dead lines in the display which is fairly well documented. It took 10 mins to fix. About as long as it it did to install a 30GB drive into my empeg.

I can understand the Dension as a device, the concept is sound. Built-in amp and built-in tuner means your average joe can just take out their DIN radio, plug this in and get going. I would imagine the removable harddrive caddy has some appeal as well.

For non-technical people who don't want to spend quality time with the inner workings of their dashboard (or have to get someone to spend a few hours doing it) it is a fair option. Of course we would find a huge argument against it, but from a consumer point of view who is not obsessed with sound quality or is going to tinker with the software, there is something going for it.

Btw, whoever won his auction got a pretty good deal!

The empeg is an enthusiast device, whereas the DH100ix is not. The DH100ix does what it claims to do, pretty well, in a very simple fashion. It took 2 minutes to install. For most people this would be good enough.

If my new car had a double-DIN I'd still have my empeg, but it doesn't and I'm not into digging out the dash/carpet/door sills etc to accomodate an amp. And I had trouble getting an FM tuner too. So in the end the DH100ix suits my needs. I could install an amp (it has 4 pre-outs) at a later date if I wanted to, but I'm sure I never will.

The guy that bought my one got a good deal. In fact I thought it would go for more. But then again when I originally bought it (2nd hand) I got a pretty good deal too!